Apricot (Orange)

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, though if I did, Isabella would have a much better relationship with her father. I only own my plot line and my OCs.


Turned out, her dad did not have anything other than fish and beer in the refrigerator. So with a tired moan, both father and daughter had to drive to a nearby diner which turned out to be her dad's regular destination. During the ride over, her father bashfully admitted that he had only made food at home when he wasn't tired; much to Mia's horror, which turned out to be one day every two weeks at most.

Sure, Mia wasn't a prodigy when it came to cooking but living with her mom, it was a means necessary to survive. Though it was often Bella who cleaned things like the insides of a chicken. Mia's thoughts trailed off as she imagined the terror of cleaning the slick bloody insides.

The breakfast passed soon as her dad and she were the only ones present in the diner at the timing. Something Charlie was thankful for or else no one would let her go. Apparently, Forks wasn't big with newcomers.

Dad lied to me! Mia thought with a pout.

Her father caught sight of her face and shook his head.

"Everyone I like knows you're here. And they were all excited. But I didn't tell anyone else, because, well, people talk and I didn't want them to be rude to you."

Mia hummed and Charlie tackled on with his explanation in a nervous manner.

In his logic, as long as loquacious people don't get a whiff of her, she would be free from the rumor mill. Though he had admitted that he hoped she would be alright talking to some of his more friendly associates.

"It's alright," Mia laughed, cutting through her father's word vomit.

He looked relieved and Mia focused on her milkshake.

"You know," her dad said after a while before he took a sip of his coffee. "I was thinking about the whole 'healthy' eating you said we would be doing but I haven't exactly worked out the amount of money needed. What was the grocery fund with Reneè?"

Mia licked her lips clean of the apple sauce from her Waffles and thought.

"Usually," she trailed off, "it happens to be a monthly allowance where the last month's remaining money is either added or taken as pocket money. Since Bella did a small job, she would also contribute to the fund. Which is something I want to do as well so we don't have a big problem. As for the money itself," Mia winced, "we had around a hundred and twenty dollars."

"But that was usually due to extra people around the house. And since it's just the two of us, it'd be like a third of the amount," Mia rushed out as she noticed her dad wince a bit.

"No, no. I just," he trailed off.

"I haven't exactly spent much on groceries since I usually don't bother with homemade food but it's more reasonable than I've spent outside so it's okay."

Mia laughed awkwardly and the rest of the breakfast went by without much talk.

By the time it was 9, Mia was back home trying to finish the setup of the bed with her dad. Almost every few minutes, she noticed Charlie dozing off only to wake up abruptly with a head jerk. Mia's eyebrows furrowed together.

Dad must've stayed up late last night to get my packages that were shipped, Mia thought with a snap. No wonder he's so tired!

"Dad? Could I please do the painting? I mean, you could take a nap or something while I do it? Please," she begged her dad. He shook his head in reluctance, believing they should both do it but in the end, he gave up.

"Wake me up if you need any help okay," he replied with a yawn. Mia agreed and waited for her dad to leave the room before she set to work.

Mia gently picked up the toolbox and placed it right outside the room. The bed was quite light to move and Mia found herself pushing it in exactly the middle of the room.

Don't want to accidentally pour paint over the new bed, Mia thought. That reminded her, how could she paint the walls without accidentally splattering some on the floor?

Mia rushes downstairs to change into something more comfortable.

I actually really like these clothes and in no way am I making an amateur mistake! Through past experiences, Mia knew that her clothes were bound to get some paint on them. Mia opened up her carryon and pulled out some casual clothes to change into. Mia leaped back upstairs and entered the bathroom.

At least Dad has obviously marked my place in the bathroom for me, Mia thought as she wore a grey shirt with matching sweatpants. The rest of the house however still screeches of Bachelor pad!

Mia brushed aside her hair from her eyes and looking for her box that contained her art supplies.

Quiet as a mouse, Mia tiptoed towards the kitchen where Charlie had placed her packages. Mia cut open the top of the box with the knife she found in the drawer to her left. The skin colored tape made a crumpling paper noise as Mia pulled them off. She slowly opened the box and started looking for her brushes. It took her several minutes to locate them and pull them out.

Oh what beautiful brushes, Mia thought with a glint in her eyes. Now all I need are some old trash bags.

Mia found what she needed quite easily when she opened up another drawer.

For the next six hours, Mia had finished painting nearly all the walls, moved her bathroom items into the bathroom and sent a quick message to both her sister and mother that she had arrived safely.

The wall surrounding the window was the last part of the room attacked by the teal haired Swan. Mia had finished the light drawings on the wall and was being painted carefully. The swirl of colors she had used intensified the atmosphere of the room, providing sweet comfort to the young teen. The warm orange her dad had bought was all used as the background of the eye-catching picture she had painted.

I honestly can't believe in a million years that this would be such a good choice. And the fact this isn't a blinding orange vest color but rather a more pumpkin color helps to make the room better.

With a few minutes until three, Mia groaned before unpacking her other art items. She worked hard, making sure everything went into its rightful place.

Placing the skateboard under her lamp, Mia transported the heavy item towards its respectful place. Her study table was already halfway done so Mia collapsed on the floor, taking a breather.

The room was nearly complete. All that remained was the setting up of the table and unpacking of her clothes.

Once Mia could feel the tremors in her legs stop, she stood back up.

The faster I do this, the faster I can go back and spend time with dad, Mia thought optimistically.

Oh, who am I even fooling? This will never work!

Mia glumly set back to her work. The time flew by as she was absorbed in her thoughts. Mia hung up the last of her clothes on the hanger before she sighed in relief.

Finally done!

Mia surveyed the room with a critical look in her eyes. The bed was all ready and set by the drywall. She had found some white and black bed sheets that she used on her bed. Her side tables were a dark brown color and were respectfully placed next to the table, adorned with Mia's vanilla scented candles. Opposite of the bed was her tiny but wide study table. The sleek black table held a framed picture of her friends as well as her box of art supplies. On the right side of the table was the heavy lamp Mia struggled to move.

Just in case I need more light for studying.

There were white shelves lined above her desk, all bare of Mia's books. Meanwhile, the closet she had was brimmed with her clothes and Mia placed her shoes in the low rack by the floor Charlie had installed.

Mia went back downstairs and collapsed onto the couch with a tired groan. Every part of her body ached with pain which made it hard for Mia to move around.

It must've been ten minutes before she heard her dad's footsteps. Her bleary eyes focused on him as he stood on the last step of the stairs.

"Why didn't you wake me up," he wondered as he gave his daughter a one over. He could see some dried paint on her chin and the exhausted look she was fighting off.

"It's no good if you exhaust yourself out and get sick you know? Plus, I could've fixed the shelves for you," he continued before walking over to her.

"Maybe you should go take a shower, clean up and feel more refreshed while I'll order takeout. Do you want pizza or burgers?"

Mia scrunched up her nose and almost groaned out loud when she accidentally hit her leg on the table.

"Can we order a burger? And I'll have anything you'll be having," she yawned out. "Maybe some curly fries as well."

"So Double Bacon Cheese Burger with curly fries and some coke?" His teasing reply was straight up without a pause making Mia almost trip.

Mia let the groan escape her body this time. "We'll fix that messy eating habit of yours, tomorrow dad. Maybe I should just put a ban on junk food in this house."

Mia quickly grabbed her shower cap and her scented body lotion before she got back in the bathroom. The hot water did wonders for her aching body as the knots unveiled.

Mia grinned tiredly as she remembered one of the amazing perks of coming to Forks.

No more time-limited showers! I won't have to worry about running out of water because of a water limit.

But her happy mood slowly extinguished when the water started turning cold and Mia took it as her cue to get out. Wearing her previous clothes, Mia went downstairs and greeted the sight of her dad holding a big, mean burger.

They had lunch quietly, both people were so highly focused on the meal in front of them to have a conversation; the only sound that would be heard was the slurping and crunching sounds as they devoured the food.

"So Mia," Charlie wiped some of the sauce of his mouth. "Reneè told me you were looking for a part-time job? I don't know how much the pay is but the Newton's have a store they need help with," he continued as he nervously peered at his daughter, "I sort of told them how you needed a job and all and they wanted to meet you to see when you could start."

Mia stilled, the food still in her mouth and she contemplatively chewed," That's really nice, dad. Thank you, it's probably saved me a lot of deal."

Charlie shrugged uncomfortably and looked down on his fries.

"Least I could do, you know."

The duo fell silent as they finished their food. Mia got up to pick up the trash but Charlie stopped Mia with his hand.

"You should rest up. I'll just do the dishes real quick."

Mia thanked him and stretched on the coach. Within the next five minutes, Charlie reemerged from the kitchen.

"So what do you wanna do now kiddo?"

Mia looked at him confused and then at the clock.

"We can't go to the school right now can we?"

"We can go tomorrow if you want? Everyone leaves by 4 so it's too late. But if you want, we can go grocery shopping or you can go sleep for a while."

Mia shook her head, "If I sleep now, I won't be able to sleep at night. And then my entire sleeping schedule will be messed up."

She tilted her head to the side with a frown.

"And I kinda don't want to go shopping right now either. Maybe we can go early tomorrow when we finish dropping off the documents in school."

"Hey dad," she started off after a pause. "You mentioned how you wanted to renovate the house? We could do that," she trailed off as his eyes bore into hers.

"A lot of the paint was left over and I was wondering if we could use it to paint the house," Mia coughed into her hand before continuing, "I could also clean the fridge before we buy the groceries. The fridge smells of fish and is probably going to end up affecting the groceries we put in it."

Her father winced at the mention of the unclean fridge.

"Aren't you tired though? I don't want you to push yourself," Charlie asked with a worried frown. "We can always do this later."

Lifting her shoulder up, Mia disagreed.

"I thought it would be better this way, you know. If we finish cleaning everything up earlier, we can spend some more time together without needing to do chores."

Charlie blushed but nodded nonetheless.

"Just tell me if you feel sleepy alright?"

After agreeing to his conditions, Mia set off to go to the kitchen while her dad went upstairs to get the paint.

Mia felt a little awkward changing everything in the house but her dad reassured her it was alright.

"This is now your home too. You should feel comfortable living here. Plus, I've always wanted to do this."

About two hours of harsh scrubbing, Mia emerged out of the kitchen, still wearing her yellow rubber gloves and helped her dad. Her father may have lived like a bachelor and although he lacked in the care of his house in some ways, Mia noticed the care he still put it.

But living with Renee and Isabella had caused her overly clean personality. And Mia knew she wouldn't stop until she made sure that every inch of the house was completely drenched in cleaning detergent.

She gently shifted the couch away from the wall to only dry heave at the mutant looking dust balls. With a hand glued to her lower face, Mia found the brush and swiped it all away. And so the process repeated; she found numerous more items under the couches or the tables like small batteries or a few plastic spoons and Mia swiped them all away. By the time the sun had gone down, they had finished the lower part of the area and the stairs, painting it sky blue. But before Mia could grab a can of paint for the hall between their rooms, Charlie forced her to relax for a bit.

"Your body will be in a lot of pain tomorrow if you don't pace yourself," he spoke as he handed her a bottle of water.

His own was downed within a few seconds.

"Hey, dad?"

He grunted.

"If Forks is so small, how do you always end up being flooded with work?"

Mia thought her question was simple but she could see that Charlie was surprised.

"Mia, Forks' Police Department also takes care of all of the nearby settlements. Our forces are spread to the outer parts of Portland as well," Charlie said with a frown. "On certain occasions, we end up teaming up with the Portland folks or we take some of their cases. And if there are some issues in Seattle, we go handle them as well. But it's rare that Seattle is under-prepared for things they handle."

"Oh."

"I'm guessing you didn't know that," Charlie stretched.

Mia shrugged, "I guess I didn't really think of it."

They didn't talk much after and Mia got up after a while to close the windows when a strong storm started.

"These won't stay long. It's always hard and fast with this type of rain."

"Does it ever hail here?"

With that, the duo settled in asking each other questions as they painted the hallways. Within the next hour, the halls which were painted a light lavender which was more pleasant than the hurling yellowish green.

"Finally," Mia breathed out. They were finally all done with the makeover and Charlie collapsed on his recliner while Mia fell on the couch.

"I don't think I can handle any more of the fixing. Even my hair hurts," Charlie groaned out. Mia hummed in response and shut her eyes. Even though her entire body ached again, she was content with the time she managed to spend with her dad.

"We still have to get up to eat food dad," Mia pointed out.

Charlie looked at Mia in disbelief.

"I haven't felt this pain since I was in high school and the football team dogpiled me. And even that pain compared to this one is like trying to compare a tofu burger with a whole meat burger!"

Mia snickered, "Not my fault I can't handle a bit of messiness. When you live with Mom and her crazy experiments, you end up being scarred for life!"

"Oh please don't tell me she still leaves her food in random, crazy locations so she could come back a month later. Only to see which one had rotten the most!"

"Yeah! And it's so annoying because one-time mom forgot she left her fries out on the porch and so many ants swarmed our house. Phil had to call an exterminator because of it! The worst part is I still have no idea why she does that from time to time."

Charlie shook his head weakly, "When we were in Forks, she thought it would help figure out where to eat in different seasons. This one time I went against her scientific experiment and ate on the couch during winter, I was forced to sleep on the bed for two weeks."

Mia shuddered.

"I once found a moldy apple under the bathroom counter. God knows why mom thought we would eat in a bathroom."

"You know, I think my appetite has vanished," Charlie mumbled looking a bit green.

"C'mon Pops, this is nothing. Let me tell you of the time Mom thought it was a good idea to mix the-."

"If you be quiet, I'll do anything you want! No more speaking of Renee's experiments today, please!"

Mia burst out into laughter as she noticed her father's pale complexion.

They both dragged themselves off the couch and grabbed the leftover lunch before munching it down. Mia didn't say anything related to Renee's experiment that night. But I will in the morning, Mia thought humorously.


Revamped on: 28/4/19 (DD/MM/YY)

Old word count: 1760

New word count: 3335

I decided to change the color of the room from royal purple to soft orange as Forks has little sunlight so the orange color helps illuminate the room with even the littlest of lights. With the royal purple, a huge amount of light would be needed so it doesn't seem like the room is completely dark.

** Follow my Instagram fangirloffandomworld for pictures about the story; outfits, designs, and visuals

Please don't forget to Review ( Reviews = Cookies ) I like hearing everyone's theory on the future of this fic